The Magic of Disney

This little story is about the “magic” of Disney. And an event that transpired that let us feel that beautiful magic beyond the commcercialism.

My son is four and he loves Tinkerbell. He has the pillow, the blanket, the PJs, the toys. So one of the main things we wanted to do in Disney was see Tinkerbell fly down from the castle.

Our first night at Magic Kingdom we found out that the park closed at 7pm for Trick’or’Treat (if you wanted to stay it was another $60/person – yikes). Really felt that Disney could of had better notifications on the Disney Experience planner. But we planned to visit Magic Kindgom twice.

On our last day, we decided to split it between two parks. Animal Kingdom (which was really cool, highly recommend it and it has the best coaster in Disney). And Magic Kingdom in the evening. My 6 year old daughter decided she wanted to go to Epcot instead. So we were going to split out group. No problem.

So we finishing up dinner. Plenty of time to get to Magic Kindgom and see Tinkerbell. When we had an “Oh Crap!” moment. The Disney tickets require a finger to enter. We had been advised to use a parent finger instead of our children/s fingers. This was because we had a promotion offer so all of our tickets were technically “adult” and they said the system had trouble identifying the fingers of little kids on adult tickets. We’ve since been told this is not the case.

Regardless, the end result was that due to this. I had to go with my wife and daughter to allow her entrance into Epcot. So we rushed off to Epcot, got my daughter in. Then headed to Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the monorail just as they pulled the cable across to stop boarding. Even though there was plenty of room. We explained that we were trying to catch Tinkerbell. But it was a no go. We had to wait for the next monorail. Sure enough, as we’re approaching the Magic Kindgom I see her. Tinkerbell in the far distance coming down. I caught a 3 second glimpse and didn’t have enough time to pick up my son for him to see.

We were frustrated and upset, but largely disappointed. And this wasn’t the first time we’d been given bad information/advise by Disney staff. I shared what happened at the Customer Service booth but did not feel they really cared or were going to listen. As they didn’t even bother to get my name/ticket#.

Well there was still the light parade. So we wound up wandering into one of the shops on Main St. And inquiring about the parade to confirm that we were in the right place to see it. The guy was helpful, and after explaining our disappointing miss of Tinkerbell’s drop. He informed us Tinkerbell is on the first float. And where to stand to get the best view. He shared that he used to work the parade. And he led us to a spot in the middle of the street across from the fire station. He showed us two markers in the ground and explained that the parade would come through right here. And those markers were for placement of the fence. So as long as we stood right “here” on the far side of those markers, we would find ourselves at the very front of the fence at the very start of the parade.

Sure enough Tinkerbell was the first float. My son blew her kisses, and she made eye contact. And I swear for the hole 90 seconds as she slowly passed by, she was focused on him. I almost wonder if he made a call to tell Tinkerbell to keep a look out on a blond curly haired kid. It was adorably cute.

Later the Cast Member (that’s the Disney term for staff/employee) returned to ensure that we had been able to see Tinkerbell. We told him we had and thanked him profusely. Then to our surprise he returned about 5 minutes after that with a little baby Tinkerbell doll for my son.

It was amazingly cool. I am not sure if he had to buy that doll out of pocket or if Disney has a program for that. But all I know is that young man from NYC by the name of Enrique, saved the Magic of Disney. He kept Disney from being a mere commercial entity. Our last night at Disney went from ending in frustration to ending in an amazing and truly magical moment that left tears in the eyes of my family.

So thank you, to an amazing young man for letting our final moments at Disney be something beautiful.

(If you see this guy around Disney, be sure to give him a shout out and tell him “Enrique Rocks!”)